Animal research projects halted at USDA until livestock treated better

The US Department of Agriculture halted new research at a Nebraska livestock study center following a damning report by The New York Times that said staff ignored animal welfare practices for decades, leading to starvation, cruel practices, and deaths.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s announcement on Monday
coincided with the release of a draft USDA report that found
“no instances of animal abuse, misuse, or mistreatment were
observed” at the Nebraska US Meat Animal Research Center
following The Times report in January. The investigators did
find, however, that the center’s committee was not in compliance
with agricultural research policies and that it failed in its
oversight duties and keeping track of animal care.

Secretary Vilsack told USDA staff to update electronic
record-keeping at the taxpayer-funded center to ensure all
animals are being monitored and care for. The agency announced it
was looking into the conditions of its animals at the center,
which conducts research to improve the profitability of the US
livestock industry, after a whistleblower veterinarian employee
there contacted the Times.

The independent panel that conducted the review said the center's
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee provided the review
panel no evidence that it met regularly to discuss issues or
concerns over animal care, and no evidence of a formal review or
approval process for research projects proposed by the oversight
committee members themselves.

"There appears to be a formal and informal process for
research project approvals. There needs to be one process that is
followed," John Clifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary
officer with the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, wrote in the draft report.

Clifford added, "I believe they do take personal interest and
care of animals but need to keep better records of [the] formal
process."

Other problems identified included: uncertainty over who is
responsible for, and in charge of, oversight for animal care and
welfare in the cooperative arrangement between the US Meat Animal
Research Center and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and no
evidence of a clearly defined animal handling training program or
documentation that staff have completed such training.

The whistleblower, Dr. James Keen, worked at the center for 25
years, where he witnessed experiments meant to help farmers, such
as cows and pigs having more offspring to increase profitability.

Keen told the newspaper that cows which normally have just one
calf were having two or three calves – though they were often
weak and unhealthy. Pigs, instead of having six to eight piglets,
were giving birth to 15. Many piglets were crushed by the sows in
tight pens and the piglets were bred to be lean – so lean, in
fact, that one in five couldn’t reproduce.

The center houses more than 500,000 animals, and there is no
staff member with a veterinarian degree. Instead, the center has
veterinary teachers and university students.